In a Perfect World
by InsaneAndHappyAboutIt
Summary: This takes place right before Norma's death and it's my way of trying to give her a little contentment before she's gone. It's still mostly tragic but it's a story about how Norma's life could have turned up had the circumstances of her youth been more forgiving... WARNING: TRIGGERS!, HYPOTHETICAL, SPOILERS FOR S4, FEELS! ENJOY! XD


**Warning: Triggers!, Feels, Dream Life, Hypothetical, Spoilers for Season 4! **

Call me crazy but I feel like Norma deserves a little happiness but it's pretty difficult to do while still keeping true to the show so I came up with this dream scenario... Hope you like! XD

**Also, I do NOT own **_**Bates Motel **_**or any of the characters! **

_**In a Perfect World**_

God knows Norma Bates didn't have an easy life. She was probably a testament to just how much a person could swallow before they finally began to come apart at the seams and yet, time and time again, she defied expectations by picking herself up and carrying on with a strength worthy of a warrior. The biggest driving force behind her resilience was certainly the love of her son, Norman, but she also continued her existence even though it seemed wretched at times as an act of defiance against everyone and everything which tried to put her down. She was a stubborn, willful creature and that innate wildness had served her well.

However, despite the tough exterior she strived so hard to display like a plate of armor she was still only human. She was still just a scared little girl inside who had been beaten by the world too many times to count and she was hurt and broken and bleeding. When things were especially bad Norma would chant a phrase over and over in her mind before drifting into sleep, willing her dreams to be pleasant. She would repeat the phrase, in a perfect world…in a perfect world… in a perfect world… and she would fantasize about how her life could have turned out had the universe not deemed to make a royal mess out of her life.

Tonight was just such a night. That day had been especially hard to bear, what with her fight with Alex and Dylan concerning Norman's initialization. She's actually accused the sheriff of going behind her back and she knew she was in the wrong as soon as the words were out of her mouth but that pride of hers which had helped her stand tall in the past got in the way. Trust didn't come easy to someone like Norma and she couldn't help looking for the knife surely soon to be stuck in her back. The notion that this man, this mostly good man, loved her for her seemed outlandish. It was too close to her perfect-world dream.

She ran through her personal mantra even as tears coursed down her check and silenced sobs reverberated through her slight frame. The arm around her waist tightened in a show of comfort and while usually Norma would find great solidarity in the presence of her youngest son, tonight she felt almost claustrophobic with him there. His arm didn't put her at ease so much as remind her of a boa constrictor coiling around its prey, suffocating the very life out of it. She missed Alex's warmth and she hoped he'd forgive her after he read her letter but if he decided to abandon her just like all the other men in her life, bar Norman, she decided not to hold it against him.

In a perfect world… In a perfect world… In a perfect world…

When sleep finally came she welcomed it gratefully and she felt her worries slip away for the next few hours. It wasn't a long time solution but the respite was greatly appreciated. The fantasy always started the same way and had the same feel to it. She was looking at her ideal life as if from a non-corporal form and it was like reading a story. She had no more control over this version of Norma than she did over the characters in an already published novel. All she could do was watch and judge and dream.

In a perfect world she wouldn't have had abusive parents. Her mother wouldn't have walked around like a sedated zombie and instead lavished her and Caleb with maternal affection. She would bake cookies for them and teach them handy tricks about keeping house. Caleb would probably find little interest in the gardening and cooking side of things but she would see it as a good opportunity to bond with her mother. She would do everything she could to make her mother proud because she loved it when the woman smiled.

In a perfect world her father wouldn't have been an abrasive drunk. She wouldn't have to walk on eggshells in fear that he would notice her and focus his mean spirited attention on her. She wouldn't have to hide under the bed and hold her breath for fear that he would hear her. She wouldn't have to listen to him shout insults at her absent minded mother or beat up her brother while she willed her heart to stop beating so loudly.

He would be gruff and stern but affectionate in his own manly way. Norma could imagine a life in which her father would have a closer relationship to Caleb since he was a boy but he would still take the time to bring her little gifts when he returned from work. He would drink but not excessively. He would kiss her mother softly on the cheek when she mashed the potatoes for the dinner which they always ate together as a family. She would have contributed by peeling the potatoes and he father would pat her on the head and wink at her.

In a perfect world Caleb would have been her protector and support like a big brother should. They would have been close but rape would have been a notion so alien neither of them so much as knew what the word meant. Caleb would tease her and probably do some mean things at her expense but nothing out of the ordinary for siblings. He might even pull her hair once in a while or trip her up and she would come into the house with scraped knees, sobbing, until her parents sent Caleb to his room to think about what he'd done. She would forget and forgive quickly enough since she was young and Caleb was somewhat of a hero to her and all would be good again.

He would always be there for her when she needed him. Caleb would beat up her bullies at school, without her knowledge, and make it abundantly clear that if anyone messed with his little sister they had to answer to him. He was a big boy for his age so not many were brave enough to stand up to him. He would chase away all the guys which bothered her, even when she secretly liked their advances. Yes, perhaps he would be a little over-protective but he would never think a man was good enough for his sister. His standards for her romantic life would be higher than her own but she would come to thank him for it later in life. Norma was woman enough to admit she didn't always have the best taste in men…

Caleb would be there at her wedding and her father would be there to give her away. Her mother would be crying, trying desperately to hold herself together, as Norma exchanged her vows with the love of her life. The face of the groom changed, depending on Norma's latest paramour. Tonight it was Alex and she stared deeply into his kind eyes. How they met was a mystery to her but she could see that they were in love and it was the sort of love fairy-tale princesses dreamed of. The look Caleb threw Alex didn't escape Norma and she could bet good money he'd given the law enforcer the 'big brother talk' before the ceremony. This was most likely the first man Caleb actually approved of and Norma couldn't be happier.

In a perfect world Dylan wouldn't have been born. That was a constant in her fantasies and it was probably the most painful fact to admit. If she would have ever had a normal, healthy relationship with her brother then Dylan couldn't have been conceived. There was no room for her oldest son, whom she did love as much as she could, and Caleb in her perfect world. If Norma could choose she knew what she would have wished for, though she would never let Dylan know. No, this was the sort of monstrous truth which she could only admit to herself in her fantasies.

In a perfect world she would still have a son and it was always Norman. It didn't matter who the father was, her son always ended up being Norman. For some reason the notion of having a daughter never seemed to fit and Norma didn't dwell on it. She would raise Norman in a healthy, loving environment and she would dote on him. Alex would be a good father. He would teach Norman about being a strong, law abiding, honest man and Norma would look at the two most important men in her life with nothing but pride.

Norman would have nothing holding him back from being an intelligent, accomplished young man. He would be focused but independent. She and he wouldn't have this twisted co-dependency that seemed to define their waking hours. Norma would be secure enough to let him make his own mistakes, even when she knew better. He would have his heart broken and be betrayed by fake friends but he would grow all the stronger and wiser because of it. She would be smart enough to let life teach Norman its many lessons needed to survive in the cut throat world of today.

In a perfect world Alex would surprise her one day by putting forth the idea of opening a motel. They would move and start fresh simply because they wanted a change rather than being chased by the ghosts of past mistakes. Norma, Norman and Alex would start this new adventure as a cohesive unit, feeling nothing but excitement for what the future had to hold. Well, Norman would kick up a fuss at first because it meant leaving his friends behind but he would eventually adjust and make new friends. The very first time Alex would light the Bates Motel sign Norma would kiss him passionately on the mouth.

This would be their home, their oasis. The highway would never exist in her world. The hotel would do splendidly and she actually had the time, money and opportunity to do all those changes to the building that she envisioned when she first saw it. Her husband would indulge her, having found a job in law enforcement easily enough. It was shocking how much time she could afford to lavish on herself if she didn't have to spend every waking second drowning in worry and paranoia. Death and drugs were things which happened to other people on TV, not to her. She would always feel safe.

In a perfect world Norma would be a social butterfly. She would be invited to attend tea parties and dinner parties and every other type of fancy venue. She would be the envy of the other women in town due to her natural beauty and grace. They would turn green at the sight of her but they would also respect her. She would be a force to be reckoned with. She would turn heads wherever she went but Alex never had to fear her doing something stupid because they loved each other. In her dream Norma actually knew what the hell that meant…

In a perfect world she would know who Norman would marry even before he did. She would see the way he and Emma looked at each other. It was the same way she and Alex looked at each other. In her perfect world Emma would be a healthy, sharp girl with a bizarre sense of humor which only Norman seemed to fully understand. She would win Norma over with her attentiveness to her son and eagerness to always lend a helping hand. Norma would have some reservation about Emma's father, mainly because of his taxidermy, but they would get along well enough. She would probably never fully understand Norman's interest in the hobby but in her dream it didn't get out of hand and it certainly didn't frighten her. Norman was healthy so she would have nothing to fear.

When the young couple would insist to have a family dinner she and Alex would share a knowing look and make polite conversation at the table while waiting for the long anticipated news. Norma would spy with her little eye the two of them holding hands under the table and stifle a smile. Eventually Norman would get the courage, probably after two glasses of red wine, to begin telling the story only to be interrupted by his excited fiancée. Frankly, Norma would be surprised Emma managed to keep the glorious news back as long as she had. The four of them would toast to the happy couple and she and Emma would immediately begging making plans for the wedding.

It would be a spring wedding and Emma would insist it be held right there at the motel because she understood how much it would mean to Norma and Norman. The ceremony would be beautiful and the reception festive. It would be a small affair, attended only by relatives and close friends and it would be the sort of intimate memory which would fill her heart with joy every time she recalled it. Caleb would be there with his own girlfriend. He'd been too much of a free spirit to settle down, having chosen to travel the world instead, but sometime during the evening he would draw Norma aside and whisper that she was the one. It would be Norma's turn to judge if the candidate was good enough for her brother and after a few quick conversations she would know that yes, this was going to be her sister in law.

In a perfect world she and Alex would grow old together. They would eventually have to scale the motel business back and only open a few rooms since they were no longer young but they had more than enough to retire comfortably. The only reason they still had guests was because they liked having a little life around them. Norman and Emma would visit often and bring by their granddaughter. She would have Norma's eyes but Norman's bone structure. Norma would spoil the girl like no grandmother had ever spoiled a granddaughter before and Emma would shake her head but she would smile at the seemingly endless bundle of candy which Norma carried in her pockets.

Eventually they would turn the hotel over to Norman and Emma, so the two of them could begin building a solid future for themselves. The business was still good, better than ever in fact what with the new expansion to the city and the new tourist attractions. Norma and Alex would live in the house on the hill, doing all the boring thing that old married couples do, and at least twice a week the five of them would meet for dinner. She would see her granddaughter grow. She would have led a long and fulfilling life full of laughter and joy.

In a perfect world… In a perfect world… In a perfect world…

Norma never did wake up from her dream. She quietly went to sleep that night, fantasizing about her little perfect world, having no idea she would grow old with her ideal self and one day close her eyes never to open them again. It was the kindest thing that ever happened to her…

**Thank you for reading and I wish you a wonderful day! XD **


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